This photo was posted on Instagram by activist Shaun King where he @’ed the Mayor of New York City and the NYPD. 

King says this photo was taken by a friend of his on May 2nd, 2020, in West Village, Manhattan. He points out the obvious- that there is no social distancing being practiced in the photo. No masks, no gloves, just very very crowded. But also, you can really only see one particular kind of person: white people. 

He asks why the NYPD aren’t going there to break up the congregation and to brutalize, punch, choke, taser, handcuff, and send ‘THESE PEOPLE’ to Rikers? King states that that is what the NYPD typically does, just not to white people. On the other side of town, in black neighborhoods police brutalize and arrest black kids and young adults who are simply sitting outside for some fresh air, mind you, they are only in a group of four, yet you still make an example of them and send them to prison where they are actually likely to contract the virus. 

Hundreds of white people do the same thing yet with 50 times the amount of people, and the police and mayor have no response? Why must people of different races live in different realities in the same city?